Yes, we’re all pyromaniacs at heart. First there were the exclusive new pics of AT&T’s fiber node blow-up, and now there’s a Verizon story of a FiOS installer possibly starting a fire when he drilled through an electrical main. Fire or no, Verizon has a great post up on its policy blog addressing the issue and explaining what Verizon did to make amends. (Some people think the post was a bad idea. I disagree.)
One critical detail: “Importantly, the incident has little to do with Verizon’s fiber or FiOS technology. This was the sort of accident that could happen during a lot of household projects like building a deck or installing a dryer vent hose.”
This is why I avoid household projects.
Heh, yeah, critically, the professional will commit the same errors a homeowner would? I mean, come on, are these guys just paid-by-the-job hot-off-the-street subcontractors? :) If so, why would I trust them with wiring up my house, again?
“…I may burn your house down while trying to install your fiber connection – True Quam!”
A good reminder to NEVER assume that an installer knows more about your home’s setup than you do. Installers from the cable companies are a crap shoot at best. Some are very good, but there’s plenty of them that don’t have a lot of common sense. Techy people who plan to have cable companies install things should plan beforehand where and how you want things installed. Don’t let the installer push you to something different. I had that issue when I had Comcast install a new cable jack for my computer area. The installer wanted to string a cable half way around my house on the outside. I INSISTED he go into the crawlspace under my house. In the end, he did what I wanted, but I had to press the point.
Lucky there wasn’t a gas line nearby. Then the headline would be “FiOS creates crater.”